By Syma Sayyah, Tehran

Sara Mobayen is a talented young lady who has taken some magnificent pictures of the children she has come across in the eastern part of Iran near the border with Afghanistan.  We went to her exhibition "Dust and Dream"� at the Golestan gallery where we met the famous Mrs Lili Golestan who has helped and encouraged so much young talent since she started her gallery over 20 years ago and has been one of the leading people promote Iranian modern art even when nobody knew nor cared much about it.

When we looked at the photographs we were greatly touched by the beauty and passion they displayed.  At the gallery we met Sara and her mother, who has a doctorate in pharmacy, and her grandmother and sisters.  Sara, who lives with her parents in Mashhad, obviously comes from a very loving family and it is easy to see where her deep sense of realism along with passion for her subject - the children - comes from.  She told me that last July she had gone with some friends on a photography assignment to the border with Afghanistan, not far from where her father has a farm, and met these Baluchi kids, who along with their parents were working there making bricks in the unhealthiest conditions.  She found them most appealing.

When I asked her which was her favorite picture she told me the girl from the back and when I asked why, she said that with her hair flying away and her t-shirt pulled up she feels so free. I must admit that even from the back one can feel that this child is having a good time.

3 generation: Sara, her mother, grandmother and a sister

When she told me that she does yoga I realized where that gentle calmness and such a passionate eye comes from. She also does hiking professionally and enjoys swimming and reading books by South American writers such as Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa and she also likes to read poetry.  Her favorite color is blue and her first camera was a Zenit, but now she uses a Nikon D70s.

We wish her all the best for her work and I am sure we shall be delighted to see more of her work in the future and you may see some other examples of her photographs here.

Golestan Gallery - Shahid Kamasaie Street, Darrous, Tehran -Tel. 021 22541589